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President Shavkat Mirziyoyev used a meeting with entrepreneurs and investors in New Tashkent on 12 October to announce a new guiding philosophy for Uzbekistan’s economy, which he named “O’Z” — drawn from the first two letters of the country’s name in Uzbek.
The concept, as Mirziyoyev described it, weaves together four ideas: “Uzbekistan” (O’zbekiston), “change” (O’zgarish), “identity” (O’zlik) and “responsibility” (Mas’uliyat). The framing was directed explicitly at both domestic and foreign capital, with the president rejecting any distinction between the two. “Capital, advanced ideas and honest work have no nationality,” he said.
Mirziyoyev extended that logic to the physical development of the new city and a parallel project in Samarkand. “Anyone who builds New Tashkent or Shirin together with us is truly one of us,” he told the gathering. He also gave investors a direct assurance: their property and businesses would be protected by law, by the state and by the president personally.
$3.5 billion in launches and groundbreakings
The meeting followed a ceremony earlier the same day at which Mirziyoyev attended the launch of seven completed facilities valued at $1 billion and the groundbreaking of ten further projects valued at $2.5 billion, all within New Tashkent. The portfolio spans residential complexes, business and infrastructure facilities, a park along the Chirchiq river, a central hospital and a school.
To attract further investment, the government announced several concessions specific to New Tashkent. Investors will be exempted from the standard requirement to landscape 30 percent of purchased land plots, with the state instead committing to ensure that 30 percent of the city’s total territory is greened. For non-residential projects exceeding $50 million in value, the costs of green certification will be reimbursed. Major investors will receive individual assistance from officials.
Mirziyoyev also instructed officials to cut infrastructure fees for businesses by between three and ten times, and said land would be allocated through the Swiss Challenge mechanism — a competitive process that allows third parties to improve on an original proposal. The city’s master plan, he added, may be revised to accommodate investor proposals.
Instructions and a return visit
The president told those present that proposals raised at the meeting would be considered, and announced he would return to New Tashkent in one month to review how his instructions had been carried out. He closed with a rallying call for investors and entrepreneurs to adopt a shared slogan: “Our own idea! Our own investments! Our own future! New Uzbekistan, New Tashkent — they are ours!”
Mirziyoyev expressed confidence that New Tashkent would become the site of multiple projects of national significance, without specifying which ones he had in mind.